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A recent report by the Australian Hoteliers Association has found that any pub in a town with a population below 20,000 needs to be named either The Imperial or The Royal, or else it isn’t a pub.
“Any venue within five blocks of the main street must be named either The Imperial Hotel or The Royal Hotel, or else their license will be reviewed – risking a possible reclassification to wine bar or BYO restaurant status” reads the report.
Local Betoota publican, Doyle Singleton (72) says that while he agrees with the report, there needs to be exemptions for historical hotels named after pioneers – like his 200-year-old pub, The Lord Kidman.
“I’ve appealed to the AHA and asked them to reconsider their ruling” he says.
“Worse comes to worst, I can maybe change it to the Royal Kidman, but that doesn’t make sense, historically”
“That said, most laws drafted to control pub owners never make sense, and are often ignored. I could just say the name-change was affecting shift workers or problem gamblers”
The document finds the only exceptions for this rule is Irish pubs, which need to be named either Gilhooleys or The Dudley.
“If there is already two venues named the Royal or Imperial within walking distance, publicans have the option to use either ‘The Commercial’ or ‘The Freemasons’
“At least one of these venues must have an Italian themed restuarant attached named either La Famiglia or La Porchetta”
